JEDDAH: The Middle East/Africa region' hotel occupancy reported mixed performance results during April 2011 when reported in US dollars, according to a new series of reports by STR and STR Global. The region's occupancy ended the month with a 9.7-percent decrease to 59.0 percent, its average daily rate rose 10.8 percent to $176.82, and its revenue per available room ended the month virtually flat with a 0.1-percent increase to $104.25. "With the Arab Spring and its consequences still ongoing across parts of Northern Africa and the Middle East, Northern Africa reported a 45-percent RevPAR drop, mainly driven by occupancy declines as demand stayed away", said Elizabeth Randall, managing director of STR Global. "The Middle East's overall performance increased in occupancy and average room rate, driven by improvements in the largest two hotel markets of the region - Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates." Two markets ended the month with double-digit occupancy increases: Riyadh (+17.0 percent to 73.8 percent), and Abu Dhabi, (+15.7 percent to 69.3 percent). Cairo dropped 52.1 percent in occupancy to 33.0 percent, reporting the largest decrease in that metric, followed by Johannesburg (-22.1 percent to 46.3 percent), and Muscat (-20.3 percent to 53.1 percent). Johannesburg (+21.6 percent to $118.06), and Cape Town (+15.7 percent to $153.09), reported the largest ADR increases. Three markets experienced double-digit ADR decreases: Abu Dhabi (-20.3 percent to $164.97); Beirut (-16.8 percent to $195.19); and Cairo (-12.2 percent to $114.93). Four markets achieved RevPAR increases of more than 10 percent: Riyadh (+27.5 percent to $210.51); Cape Town (+25.1 percent to $84.94); Dubai (+13.3 percent to $216.67); and Jeddah (+13.0 percent to $150.70). Cairo fell 57.9 percent in RevPAR to $37.93, reporting the largest decrease in that metric.
